InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

Julian Schoemig, CEO: Diesta: Why insurance still struggles to move money (376)

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In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Julian Schoemig, CEO and Co-founder of Diesta, to explore why payments and settlements remain one of the insurance industry’s biggest unsolved problems, and what it will take to fix them.

From his early days selling boxing machines to Munich pubs to underwriting aviation at Munich Re, Julian’s career has been shaped by a single truth: business doesn’t count until the cash is in the bank. That mindset now underpins Diesta, a company building the financial plumbing to help insurers, brokers and MGAs move money with greater clarity, speed and control.

In this conversation, Julian shares:

  • Why insurance payment flows are so complex — and how that creates systemic risk
  • What makes insurance different from other industries that rely on intermediated transactions
  • The scale of the problem: seven times more money moves than is written in premium
  • How Diesta connects policy systems, banks and documents to create a single source of truth
  • Why traditional reconciliation tools fall short for insurance finance teams
  • The real-world impact of unallocated cash, overpayments and delayed settlements
  • What he's learned from building a product in a “boring but broken” space
  • Why now is the right time for vertical, API-first infrastructure in insurance
  • The case for making payments a first-class metric in performance and incentives

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    Continuing Professional Development

    This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme.

    By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives:

    • Specify the technological and structural reasons why insurance payment flows are more complex than in other industries.
    • Explain how Diesta’s payment operations layer integrates with existing systems to streamline cash flow.
    • Define the concept of a financial subledger in the context of intermediated insurance.

      • If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 376 page of the InsTech website or email [email protected] to let us know you have listened to this podcast.

      To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

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